Apple Turns Off the Bile, Sells Macs For What They Are

Paul Thurrott

Fri, 2010-05-21 06:49

I was a vocal critic of Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ad campaign for two reasons. One, they often lied about Windows. And two, they were more about mocking and criticizing Windows and PC users, and less about selling the advantages of the Mac. Well, that ad campaign is officially dead, and it's not coincidental that the last TV ad appeared in the very same month (October 2009) that Microsoft delivered Windows 7. Everyone loves Windows 7, so there's just no ripe target for Apple to mock and belittle. And now they've switched gears. They're actually selling Macs based on the strengths of the Mac platform, not on the (supposed) weakness of the competition.

And you know what? It's nice. The new campaign, Why You'll Love a Mac, is exactly what I've been suggesting Apple do all along: Drop the bile and sell Macs, sell them on the platform's strengths, and drop the anti-Windows BS. So good for them.

Why get a new PC and just upgrade your computer, when you can get a Mac and upgrade your entire computer experience?

It's designed to be a better computer It comes with software you'll love to use It comes with the world's most advanced OS It comes with award-winning support It runs Office and works with your existing PC files It's compatible with your stuff It doesn't get PC viruses It's loaded with the latest technology It runs Windows and Windows applications

You can quibble with a few of these I guess. ("World's most advanced OS"? Get over yourself.) And yeah, the virus thing is obviously a dig, but it's certainly true. The majority of these, however, are simply statements about the Mac platform,and I think that's laudable. And long overdue.